


JWP 2019 #10: Words and Phrases

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crime Scenes, Gen, In-Joke, Murder, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 05:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19761262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: Another day, another crime scene with Sherlock. Written for JWP 2019 #10.





	JWP 2019 #10: Words and Phrases

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt: Words and Phrases: Use at least three of the following words and phrases in your work today. The actual words and phrases can be found at the end.
> 
> Warnings: Improbable crime scene. Tortured use of at least some of the prompt words. References to a famous song and an Italian goth metal band. Written in a huge rush. You have been warned.

_Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight_ , John thought to himself as he glanced out the window towards the blazing sky. It was a calming sight, in direct contrast to the interior of the little flat. But pleasant day dreams wouldn’t change anything. He turned back as Sherlock’s voice started relaying his initial findings.

“An unexpected visitor, but either not an unknown one, or someone she did not see as a threat.” He reached out and almost touched the young woman’s head, eyes flicking back and forth. “Neck snapped cleanly, with complete dislocation of at least one, and possibly two vertebrae - ”

“Maybe that’s why there’s no sign of fight or flight or any kind of a struggle,” DS Shane piped up. He was the new member of Dimmock’s team, and judging by the look the DI sent him, had not yet learned when to hold his tongue.

Sherlock raised his head and opened his mouth, then froze as music suddenly blared into the room.

“Summer time, and the living is easy…”

John recognized the tune and the lyrics, but this was neither Ella Fitzgerald, nor the Janis Joplin variation John’s parents had been fond of, but some kind of amalgamate between soul and metal. He spotted the digital player on the shelf; the digital device evidently also doubled as some kind of alarm clock. The readout said the artist was Lacuna Coil, whoever or whatever that was. John couldn’t decide if he liked this version or hated it, but he knew Sherlock well enough to pull on a latex glove and push the mute button.

“So?” Dimmock asked as the music shut off. “Have you any thoughts about whether this is the same as the other two?”

“The methodology is similar, but…” Sherlock sprang up and strode over to stand by John. He pulled a paper day-calendar off the shelf below the player and started flipping through the pages.

 _Flisk… Sophism… Apposite…_ John suppressed an inappropriate paroxysm of morbid humor. “A word-of-the-day calendar,” he murmured.

“Exactly. And with the digital player set to call our attention to this shelf, if the police weren’t clever enough to find it on their own.” He turned to Dimmock. “First a dictionary, then a thesaurus, each left nearby the victim. Now a calendar all about words.”

DS Shane didn’t quite gasp. “It’s the vocabulary killer, right enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 10, 2019.
> 
> The words and phrases to use:
> 
> 1\. Dreams  
> 2\. Red sky at night shepherds delight  
> 3\. Summer time and the living is easy  
> 4\. An unexpected visitor  
> 5\. Flight  
> 6\. Flisk  
> 7\. Sophism  
> 8\. Amalgamate  
> 9\. Paroxysm  
> 10\. Lacuna  
> 11\. Apposite


End file.
